We wish a Happy Birthday to the following students and staff members who celebrated their birthdays last week or are celebrating their birthdays this week at the Deerfield School:

Early-Release Day on Wednesday, December 21st

Wednesday, December 21st will be an early-release day for students. Students will be dismissed at 11:25am and lunch will not be served in school.

Dismissal for Friday, December 23rd

Deerfield will dismiss at 11:35am on Friday, December 23rd for the winter vacation. No lunch will be served in school on that day.

Reminder: Gift Policy

In the final week before the winter vacation, I want to take a moment to remind you of the gift policy followed by Westwood Public Schools employees.

Massachusetts’ legislators passed a law designed to ensure that public employees receive gifts in an ethical manner. You can read an overview of the law by clicking here. The law stipulates that public employees may not receive gifts in excess of $50. A public employee, including public school staff members, may receive a gift worth less than $50, as long as the employee discloses the gift in writing. All school employees may accept items costing $10 or less without disclosure. An exemption to the law was written to allow classroom teachers to receive gifts from their classes.

Teachers may receive a gift (or gifts) with a total value of $150 for personal use during the school year from the entire class. Individual names of donors and donation amounts may not be included in the gift acknowledgment. School employees may receive gifts costing more than $50 for their class or the school. Teachers do not need to disclose class gifts.

Reminder: Winter Clothing and Outdoor Recess

With cold and snowy days ahead, I want to take a moment to remind you of some of the policies and procedures that help us safely navigate the winter months.

Please remember that students play outside, even in snowy weather, unless it is an unsafe temperature. For Westwood Public Schools, students will not play outside if the temperature is below 20 degree Fahrenheit. Students will also not have outside recess if the conditions are too icy or rainy. Please make sure your child is dressed for the winter temperatures, so he or she can play outside comfortably and safely.

If it is snowy, please make sure your child is equipped with snow pants and snow boots. Without this gear, students will need to play on the shoveled blacktop areas of the playground. On snowy days, please send your child to school with a pair of shoes in addition to snow boots. This will help students stay comfortable and keep our hallways and classrooms clean and dry throughout the day.